Arab Knesset Member Haneen Zoabi To Take Part In Another Gaza Flotilla

Arab member of the Israeli Knesset Haneen Zoabi (Joint Arab List) is expected to participate in a women’s flotilla to the Gaza Strip in September, sources close to Zoabi told Israel Hayom.

Zoabi plans to participate in the “Women’s Boat to Gaza” flotilla to protest the maritime blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza. In 2010, Zoabi took part in the Turkish flotilla that aimed to breach the Gaza blockade. She sailed aboard the Mavi Marmara ship, where after Turkish militants attacked Israeli commandos, nine of the Turks died in ensuing clashes. For many in Israel, this move called Zoabi’s loyalty to Israel into question. She has been a frequent harsh critic of the Israeli government; in April, she compared Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians to the Holocaust and refused to attend Israel’s national Holocaust memorial assembly.

Zoabi, who recently finished a four-month suspension from the Knesset for meeting terrorists’ families, could find herself embroiled in conflict once again with the Knesset Ethics Committee and face another suspension over her planned flotilla participation. The flotilla will include women activists of various leftist organizations, and European female parliamentarians may join them. Organizers are keeping the location from which the flotilla will set sail under wraps.